Nightmares of a Paper Crane
by UnwelcomeGuest
Summary: It's been sometime after the Game had ended and life is going on as usual, Joshua still staying out of sight. Suddenly, Neku finds a strange black piece of paper near Hachiko, an ominous poem is what he sees written on it. He pockets it and continues with his life. Little does he know, this tiny, battered black paper crane is just the beginning of a nightmare. Rated T just in case
1. Prologue: Moon Rise Song

_**Nightmares of a Paper Crane**_

_Author's Notes_: Alright, my first fanfic! Sorry if I'm not very good… I'm just one big TWEWY fan of JoshXNeku, but you won't be seeing any of that here, sorry JoshXNeku fans! Plus, my vocabulary is half on English, half on Chinese, I only know certain words for each; if I misuse any words, make any stupid mistakes, or suddenly switch from ultra-descriptive to lame, please don't rant at me and forgive those mistakes! I appreciate constructive criticism and any comments, no matter how simple. So… thanks for listening to this weird warning and taking a look at my fanfic! I'm quite a dreamer and have thought about writing this for some time now! Always wanted to start one, I-

…

Bad me! *slaps*

Sorry for wasting all that space and time… Better get this story started, huh? Enjoy~!

**EDITED**: Fixed for names and other little mistakes...

Disclaimer: Nope, I do NOT own TWEWY. Never have, never will, but always dreaming that I could be a part of their world…

* * *

_**Prologue: Moon Rise Song**_

The sound of folding paper echoed throughout the room accompanied by a light-hearted humming. In the dim light of the torches, a girl sat at the table, folding paper cranes with multicoloured paper. A blue one here, a red one there, then yellow one plopped next to them on the smooth wood. Moonlight pushed its way through the clouds to shine fitfully into the room, trying to peek at the interior design. The sound of folding paper stopped as did the humming as the moonlight reached out and touched the small figure at the table. A playful smile crossed the girl's lips as she glanced at the moon, looking at it through the open window with red, swaying velvet curtains.

"Cheeky little moon… Hee hee… Taking a sneak peek at me?" the smooth and young voice rolled from the girl's tongue like water over stones; so sweet, playful and enchanting that it seemed to draw the attention of all the objects in the room. The flames from the torches on the walls danced a little closer and the wind shifted to blow a gentle breeze into the room, enough to make the girl's plain, white dress flutter. The girl hopped off her chair, leaving the cranes on the table except for the small, black one currently in her hand. She danced onto the balcony, a hand grasping the railing lightly. The light cast a heavenly glow onto the girl, her features now visible as she held the crane up to the moon, smiling joyfully and leaning over the edge.

A girl, looking no more than eleven, was there, hanging onto the balcony as she tried to touch the moon, black paper crane in a thin, bony outstretched hand. She looked thin, somewhat malnourished, but, at the same time, radiated a glow of life. Her facial features were sharp yet gentle: a small nose, a set of pink, child-like lips, a small chin, delicate ears, and mismatched eyes. Those eyes. They were… intense. They were like whirlpools of gold and blue as they caught the moonlight and threatened to absorb the poor silver circle in the night sky. On the left, her gold eyes made her black pupils stand out in a somewhat foreboding way; on the right, her eyes were like ice, a piercing, cold gaze with immeasurable depth. Her long limbs were still as she kept her pose, offering a black paper crane to the moon, and her long, silky black hair flapped like a cloak behind her.

The sharp cold didn't seem to bother her. Instead, it seemed to make her happier. The wind threatened to blow her small form off the edge of the balcony railing at any second, but she held on tightly, not giving the gale a single chance in the fight. Her skin was pale in the silver light.

A flutter of black disappeared into the night as the stars silently watched the black crane ride away on the gale. A boat with a message, a peaceful ambassador of the heavens, a fragile creature among the rough waves of the wind, a single, lonely black rose falling as the silver blinking stars let it fall…

...

Neku snapped back into reality as something descended in front of him and between Hachiko's doggy ears. The black object stayed there for a while before a small breeze knocked it off balance, completely drawing the teenager's attention. The orange-haired boy hesitated before picking up the object and unfolding it. A battered piece of black paper was soon resting in his hands, exhausted from the journey. The teen had his usual sleeveless shirt with a funnel-shaped collar and an indigo stripe outlined with gold going down the middle, a yellow sweatband on his left arm, and white shorts held up by a loose-fitting belt. The shoes, black with an indigo stripe outlined in gold, shone, new, but the same as before. His headphones were nowhere in sight though, nor was his mp3 that he usually wore around his neck.

Squinting at the faint silver words, Neku grew curious quickly, not sure what about this battered letter interested him. The silver lines scribbled in cursive on the paper seemed to react to Neku's presence as they caught the light, becoming more readable.

_The Fiery Dawn will return  
__Marks of hatred it shall burn  
__The Stars and the Moon  
__Listen to the Night croon  
__Without patience they fight  
__Leading to the rise of what is White  
__But not all Light is pure  
__A Falling Dusk shall bring the Cure  
__That the Sun regrets banishing  
__For that Cure shall prevent it from Vanishing_

_This is a rose that is black. It must be kept safe. Whoever is out there, please take care of it for me. Something this important to my heart, I don't think I'll be able to take it if we completely part._

_~Sincerely, -_

_P.S. Whatever you do, please keep it safe. I'll be grateful. Very._

"…" Neku was confused, dumbstruck, baffled. He shrugged, trying to make out the name that he hadn't been able to recognize before. After a while of using his gaze to burn holes in the paper, he made out thin silver lines that read '_Kurohane Akama_' and then, next to the English letters were ones that were very familiar to him. Japanese characters that translated those English ones into his own language.

_黑羽 赤間__*_

Neku frowned and shrugged before carefully folding up the piece of paper and sliding it into his pocket. Then he turned, hearing someone call his name. Shiki, Beat, Rhyme and Eri were waiting for him not too far away. A smile flashing across his face, the teen waved back before running off to join them. _All is well… Wherever you are, Josh, I wish you could join us… Guess I'll just wait a tad longer for you, huh? _The teen thought as he caught up with his friends. Cheerfully hanging out, the group began to walk away, chatting their troubles away into the wide sky, letting them soar away over Shibuya.

But all was not well.

* * *

Author's Notes: So, yeah, that's the Prologue… BTW, * is literally translated into 'Black Feather – Red Space'. I just had to add that… I'm not exactly too sure about the way those characters are written since I was using traditional Chinese to type instead of Japanese…


	2. Chapter 1: Dancing Dawn

_**Nightmare of a Paper Crane**_

Author's Notes: Hey there, everyone! Here's the first chapter of this fanfic! It'll be significantly longer than the prologue, though. Thanks to **FallenL. Angel** for critique, as well as a generous Guest whom I know personally in real life for reminding me to check my writing over to add something between the timeskip from The Girl to Neku. Also, a great thanks to my friends that proofread the Prologue for me, since I've never been good with proofreading my own work. From now on, Kuroha's name is officially changed to Kurohane after a correction from a Japanese friend. In the next three chapters, including this one, I shall be introducing a new OC each chapter (hopefully), starting with the Yellow Paper Crane, Raitotei Kasai. I _might_ clean up the Prologue later and will edit Kurohane's name. Again, thanks a bunch to **FallenL. Angel**! Hugs and kisses for all readers!

PS: I bailed on the description for Eri 'cause I'm hopeless at describing people sometimes…

**_EDITED_**: Oh my... Fixed this for typos and the such. I can't believe I gave Kasai-kun a name like that... Only realized the awkwardness of the meaning when I went to bed. This chapter was awfully rushed, so I didn't realize Mr. Hanekoma and Mr. Mew had disappeared! Also, thank you to **Rambunctious Guest**, the mysterious guest who commented, and **DeliriousUser** for the reviews! I never realized one chapter would take so long... I guess I might not be able to accomplish my one update per day goal! Another thing, me and Rambunctious were chatting in Home Ec. class today and she helped me think up an idea for an April Fools chapter! It was utter randomness, but, let me tell you, it has something to do with the word 'pants'. I can't wait for 1st April... And for more people to read this!

Disclaimer: I do not own TWEWY or the characters from it.

* * *

_**Chapter One: Dancing Dawn**_

The yellow paper crane fell, spiralling downwards from where it had been placed, alone into the sunrise.

"… Raitotei?"

At the mention of his name, the blindfolded boy looked up in the dim light. Well, he moved his head to face the direction of the voice, at least, as his eyes were covered by a rough, black piece of fabric. His ash-blonde hair reaching to his shoulders was slightly messy and a playful smile faintly reached his lips as if he was trying to get used to it. A lanky arm raised and a small hand reached up to his silvery locks as he began fiddling with them. The moon was no longer peering into the torch-lit room, giving it a gloomy darkness. It was a while before the boy replied to the voice.

"… What's wrong? Anything I can help with, hmm?" he asked in a sing-song voice.

"Hee… I think your hair's a little too long…" the voice came out of the shadows, just as cheerful.

"…" the boy hesitated once more, smile fading. He really couldn't get used to this… The smile came back with an air of arrogance. "Oh?" he asked, sounding mildly surprised and stroking his hair, "I think it looks _beautiful_ like this… Tee hee… By the way, when can I take this blindfold off? It's awfully dark like this…" The silveret tutted, seeming annoyed and waving his hand as he spoke, as if to emphasize how annoying the darkness was to him. His words had sarcasm to them.

After a pause and a small giggle, the voice came drifting out of the gloom again, accompanied by the sound of a pen scratching on paper. "Let me see… When Dawn arrives, how's about then?"

"Ah… That would be… now." A confident grin spread across the boy's face as he stood up from his seat. His fingertips moved calmly to the back of his head and touched the knots that had been made in the cloth to secure it. Dexterous hands began to undo the knots with casual slowness and skilful grace as the first of the sun's rays climbed onto the balcony and through the glass of the shut windows as if they didn't exist. The sudden gold light dyed the formerly dark sky a brilliant orange and purple, slowly becoming pink, then red, and then gold. Surrounding the boy, the sunshine lit up his features. The black blindfold fell to the floor, revealing closed eyes with somewhat long eyelashes. A pair of scissors materialized in the teen's hands and moved up to his neck, clear snipping sounds breaking the silence that had fallen when the scratching of a pen had disappeared. Silver threads of hair fell to the ground soon followed by a gold pair of scissors that landed with a clatter.

"Perfect…" the voice in the darkness purred, the innocence of it not suiting the atmosphere.

The silver haired teen giggled and flicked his hair. Then he faced a shadow outlined by the rising sun, unable to be seen due to the blinding light behind him. "Is that so? Pass me a mirror if you will, Da-" He broke off to catch the mirror that was flung violently in his direction and tutted. "Having a tantrum, are we now? Hmm?" he asked. The figure ignored him.

Holding the mirror in front of him, Raitotei opened his eyes. Staring back at him in the mirror was a pair of lavender eyes, the face of Yoshiya Kiryu.

"Hee hee… Don't I look _wonderful_?" Raitotei asked no one in particular, giving a small twirl. A crack appeared across the mirror as he flicked his hair back with his free hand, the faintest streak of red flashing in those lavender eyes. The sound of glass breaking rung through the room as 'Yoshiya' turned, letting go of the mirror and walked towards the balcony with quick strides. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his long pants as the double doors were flung open by a sudden rush of wind that blasted out from the inside of the room, making his shirt flutter slightly. 'Yoshiya' made a light jump onto the railing and stood there, admiring the sunrise for a moment. He gave a casual wave to the unseen people in the room and turned on his heel, falling backwards off the railing.

"Well… See ya!" were the last words he said before plummeting down.

A gale caught the Yellow Paper Crane, blowing it to a safe landing on the horizon where the sun gazed warmly at it.

…

"So… Remind me. Why are we doing this again?" a vexed Neku asked with his arms folded.

"Neku…" Shiki sighed, hugging Mr. Mew tightly with one hand and adjusting her glasses with the other, "I already told you. You _need_ new clothes and that's that!"

"Why? I like my outfit how it is… Plus, _why _are we shopping at Lapin Angelique?! Out of _all _the places we could go, Shiki, why here?" Neku complained as quietly as possible for the Nth time that day, irritation coming off him in waves. Shiki had taken him to shop Natural Puppy clothes first before dragging him to Sheep Heavenly's store and then to D+B.

"Oh, shut it, Neku. Be grateful that I'm taking time to help you pick out clothes," Shiki replied in a somewhat cheerful tone as she looked through the clothes there, casually taking her time.

"If you take any longer, we'll miss Beat and Rhyme at Hachiko. I'm serious. It's almost time to go meet them." _And time for you to get out of the _girl's _section. Since when was I a girl?! _The pissed teen added in his head, the frown sticking to his face as he fiddled with a strand of orange hair.

"Alright, alright… We still have to wait for Eri though," the smiling girl objected, straightening up to look at Neku in her wide-sleeved, dark brown top and knee-length pale skirt.

"Let's wait outside then," Neku suggested, leading the way out, his frown dissolving. To be honest, he was very glad Shiki had taken him out today and couldn't help but feel light and at ease in the brown-haired girl's presence. He hadn't felt this way ever since he picked up that black piece of paper two days ago. Life had been… normal after the game ended. Different from before, but normal. He felt like an actual part of the world instead of feeling separated. Surprisingly, this turn from uniqueness and into the majority had made Neku happier overall. What wasn't to like? He had awesome friends, a peaceful life and CAT's artwork. The one thing that did tick him off all the time, however, was how a certain arrogant snob hadn't shown himself in, what, three or four months? Neku had _wanted_ him to come. Yes, he did shoot and kill Neku twice and yes, he was a spoiled brat, but that didn't mean Neku couldn't see him as a friend. Why did he refuse to show up? Every day, he and his friends would wait and chat, standing around Hachiko, and then go to Wildcat to see if that pipsqueak would come. He didn't. Yoshiya Kiryu refused to show up. Even when they asked Mr. Hanekoma, the older man would always respond with, "_You can't blame him, Phones. Being the Composer, he's awfully busy. Now, what about a cup of coffee?_"

Neku couldn't help but sigh, feeling cold all over. Thinking about this brought a cold feeling on his leg, next to the pocket of which the odd, black piece of paper rested. It was as if the black paper was messing up his emotions, yet he felt too attached to it to throw it away. Worry clouded his eyes as he reflected on how he felt overprotective to the letter in his pocket. Shiki caught this and a flash of concern crossed her face. Spotting Eri waving at them, she smiled and tapped Neku.

"Come on, Eri's done. Let's go join up with Beat and Rhyme!" Shiki chirped, trying to get Neku to stop brooding. It worked. Thinking about being able to hang out with Beat and Rhyme helped Neku's feelings a lot. Smiling again, he nodded to Shiki and walked towards Eri.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. He stopped all of a sudden and turned his head around sharply. His heartbeat quickened with his breathing and a prick of hope and nervousness came to him at the same time. Shiki stopped, sensing Neku's pause. She turned to look at him and blinked. Was the teen alright? Neku looked frantic.

"Hey… Neku!" A shout caught Neku's attention and he stopped trying to search for the sight that pricked his heart. He looked at Shiki who was frowning, concerned. "You alright?" her voice calmed him down.

"Y-yeah… Come on, let's go!" Neku let a forced smile onto his face as he followed the girls. As much as the desire to be with his friends consoled him, what had startled him was still in his mind, his emotional cloud of thoughts, unmoving, not letting those calming thoughts reach that one part of his heart.

For a moment, he thought he had seen Joshua.

He shook his head. There was no reason to believe that Joshua would show up. There was no reason to believe everything he saw or thought he saw. Repeating this to himself in his head, he picked up the pace.

"Hee! That was quite some reaction… Looks like you miss your dear Composer quite a lot, dear, _dear_, Neku…" The voice was quiet as the speaker watched from the shadows, "But don't you worry… _I'll _be with you soon… Hee hee…"

…

"Yo! Phones! Shiki! Eri! What took ya' so long!?"

Beat's voice reached his ears as soon as Hachiko came into sight. Neku's worries plummeted as the sight of his other two friends came into view. In front of him walked Shiki and Eri, looking exactly as Shiki had during the game with the same clothes today. Beat, wearing his black cap with the white skull on, a sleeveless top and shorts as always, was waving at them, smiling as he stood next to his sister. Rhyme wasn't wearing her hat today for some reason, but still had that long-sleeved top and pair of white shorts as well as the pendent that hung around her neck.

"Sorry, Beat. We had shopping to do," Shiki replied in a non-sarcastic way.

"Did everything go smoothly?" Rhyme asked, giving a friendly smile in greetings.

"Oh yes! I bought this cute outfit that would totally fit you, Rhyme!" Eri interjected, holding up the bag she was holding. Eri had become part of their gang since she was so close to Shiki. They had told her about the reaper's game as well after getting permission to do so from Mr. H. At first, the girl had been shocked and somewhat sceptic, but believed them after a while of suspicion, knowing that Shiki wouldn't lie to her. Amazingly, only Eri remembered Shiki's death. It seemed as if everyone had the memories of their deaths wiped clean except for Eri. This had convinced them that the girl deserved to know.

"Thanks, Eri," Rhyme chirped gratefully.

"Yo! You'd buy anything for me?" Beat then asked.

"Sure, if you wanted to wear a dress," Eri teased.

"BWAA! I'm notta girl!" Beat exclaimed, seeming horrified. Rhyme and Shiki both giggled at this and Neku smiled.

"So, Neku, where are we going today?" Rhyme brought the main topic back.

"I was thinking of going to Mr.H's cafe."

"Wha' happened to eating ramen, yo?" Beat seemed disappointed as he asked.

"We can always buy pancakes at Wildcat, Beat. You sure know how to think of your stomach!" Eri huffed, hands on her hips.

"Damn right, I do! I'm hungry!" Cheering up, Beat grinned and everyone burst out laughing again. "What?!" An angry Beat demanded, not getting it.

"Come on," Neku urged, holding back tears of laughter, "Let's go before we laugh ourselves back into the game."

…

The jingling of bells made the man behind the counter look up. His serious and concentrated expression broke into a casual one.

"Phones! Everyone! What brings you all here today?" Hanekoma asked cheerfully, walking towards them. Neku and the others smiled as they came in, sitting down around a table.

"Hey, Mr.H.," Neku greeted, giving half-wave and a smile.

"Cook me up some pancakes, yo!" Beat cut in at once.

"Sorry to disturb you," Rhyme added in a polite tone.

"Yeah," Eri agreed

"Nah… It's fine!" the barista assured, nodding in greetings to Shiki who had only nodded and not talked yet.

"Hey, so, any news of Joshua yet?" Neku suddenly interjected, making Shiki stare, surprised at him. Rhyme frowned in concern and Beat bit back an angry comment about the Prissy Boy. Eri shifted in her seat, a little uncomfortable, too, as Shiki had told her about Joshua as well. Neku asked it in a casual way, which was weird, when normally, the mention of Joshua's name could cause him to become unhappy and down-in-the-dumps for over an hour. Mr.H.'s brow furrowed ever so slightly before replying.

"Sorry, Phones, but I haven't seen Josh in quite a while. No news, I'm afraid…" the coffee man explained, trying to be casual about it. Too bad it didn't come out that way. The man's frown deepened for a second before it cleared. A tone of worry had edged his voice and Neku hadn't failed to catch it. The man smiled and added, "How does some coffee sound?"

There was something wrong and Neku knew it.

…

The orange haired boy who sat in the second column away from the window yawned. Neku hadn't gotten a very good sleep last night, his dreams plagued with nightmares. The cold feeling next to his leg had grown and he absentmindedly fiddled with the black material in his pocket. The noise of the students hummed around him, oddly dimmed as his attention was attracted by the paper. He could feel the lines that had been written on the rough surface and the poem wouldn't leave him alone. It kept barging into his thoughts, confusing him further each time he thought of it. The ringing of the bell brought him back to reality. He hadn't realized so much time had passed already. Sighing, he waited for class to start and hoped that school would end soon. To his delight, Shiki and Eri were in the same school as him. However, Beat and Rhyme weren't, but it didn't mean they couldn't hang out. Too bad he wasn't in the same class as the girls. The teacher walked in and Neku stood up respectfully with all the other students.

Their teacher was an aging lady in her thirties, yet looking so much older. She wasn't as strict as she looked though with her hair tied into a neat bun and glasses on the tip of her nose. She let them sit after setting her stuff down.

"Before we have any classes today, I would like to announce the arrival of a new student."

What? At this time of the year? School started in April and it was already June now.

"He transferred here from Spain."

Spain, huh?

"I hope that you'll all help look after him… Come in now, ."

Neku shifted his gaze to the door as it slid open. He froze. His heart raced as he drew in a sharp breath.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Yes, ma'am," The kid said, a playful smirk on his face, "Hola*. Hajime masite**. My name is Raitotei Kasai. But I guess you can call me by my nickname, Kye, as that's what Mother and Father call me. Douzo yorosiku one gayi simasu~!*** Hee…" He twirled a lock of silver hair as he spoke Japanese fluently. The teacher turned from the blackboard, stepping back from the large words '火災 ライト帝 'on the board.

"…" Neku was frozen. Here was Yoshiya Kiryu, pretending to be some transfer student from Spain called Raitotei Kasai. Plus, _Kasai_, what kind of name was that?

"I'm sure we'll get along stunningly…" the silver-haired teen crooned.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hey, as you can see, there is some Japanese, and Spanish, in here. I am NOT Japanese, but I got some help from a Japanese friend and the friendly internet. Here are the translations:

* - Spanish for 'Hello'

** - Japanese for a respectful way of saying 'Nice to meet you'. More literally translated into, 'the first time meeting'

*** - Japanese for a respectful greeting of someone you first meet. Translates literally into 'Please take care of me'

Raitotei Kasai (火災 ライト帝) translates into 'Light Emperor Fire Disaster'

If you see anything wrong or anything that needs to be changed, feel free to comment and tell me. Again, I appreciate constructive criticism.

PS: School in Japan starts in April.

PPS: Raitotei made a mistake by saying 'Hola' before 'Hajime...'. Hello is not meant to be said before that.


	3. Chapter 2: Clear as Day

_**Nightmare of a Paper Crane**_

Author's Note: Alright! Second Chapter! In this chapter, I'll be introducing my third OC, Yuuki Ouma. Yuuki was actually born in Japan and is the only OC to not have a fake/changed name. Yep, all the others either had their name changed or is using a fake name. Kurohane Akama changed her name completely, but was originally Japanese. Raitotei Kasai changed his name for… reasons unknown… and is from Spain. His true name is… yet to be revealed. In case it was a little confusing in the previous chapter, I'll explain this to you: Yoshiya Kiryu has not yet made an actual appearance yet. Raitotei looks exactly like Joshua. So that was Raitotei, not Josh. Josh will appear briefly in this chapter, I assure you. My final OC shall be introduced next chapter while making a very brief appearance in this one. She's from Britain so she'll have a strong British accent. On another note… I made profiles for my characters, talking about what they like, what they hate, their past lives, their quirks and all and I'll be constantly adding new things to it as I write my fanfic. Maybe, in the near future, I'll let you see their profiles… But not now as they are only flat characters now… At least I was creative enough to type up Yuuki's appearance! Anyways, that's enough of my rambling! On with the story!

At** Rambunctious Guest: **Nope. Not Crayon Box Warriors, it's the Paper Crane Warriors!

Disclaimer: TWEWY has been something I owned as a game to play, not as an original idea.

* * *

_**Chapter 2: Clear as Day**_

The Blue Paper Crane tossed and turned in the vicious storm of conflicting winds, desperately trying to reach the clear, blue sky.

Sightless, glass-like eyes stared into the depths of a pool of water. Ripples spread every now and then from the middle, running towards the edges and back, despite having no source for such a wave. The mirror-like pool reflected the sun's light as it beat down upon the figure next to the window. The shadow hadn't moved since his companion left, but raised his head to look at the cloudless sky now. He could see. He didn't need sight to see. Cross-legged, he turned his attention back to the water. His long fingers slid over the edge of the golden basin of which contained the crystal clear pool and strands of his white, milky hair fell from behind his ears, getting in the way of his eyes. But it didn't matter. He didn't need his eyes to see so it didn't matter.

A scene appeared as the ripples continued crawling along the surface of the water, eventually stopping and showing a classroom. The water reflected an orange haired boy frozen in his seat with shock. His eyes were wide and flickers of astonishment flashed through his determinedly blank expression.

"Heheh… Looks like it came to more of a shock to him than he expected…" The same voice drifted from the shadows, sounding more mature than it had at Dawn. The glassy eyes placed their silent gaze on the girl that walked from the shadows, her black hair reaching her waist and her mismatched eyes catching the light of the sun. She no longer looked eleven, but, rather, sixteen, her features more mature and pretty, but she was still petit and awfully thin. "Right, Yuuki?" she asked, looking towards the boy on the floor.

Yuuki hesitated before replying. "I agree, Milady…." He then answered, standing up in his sleeveless dark brown hoodie he wore over a plain white t-shirt and long jeans that were burdened with multiple chains. His straight, silky, white hair reached just below his shoulders. Despite his fragile-looking appearance, the somewhat bulky teen towered over the girl. His eyes were filled with respect for the seemingly younger girl.

"_Milady? My Lady?_" Another female voice questioned from the gloom, a thick British accent in her strangely young and tuanting voice, "What? Are you cosplaying some Victorian butler answering his Mistress?"

The child was ignored by the much older-looking boy while the black-haired girl just sighed.

"Hee… Perhaps Yuuki is…" Kurohane commented an innocent smile on her innocent face as she twirled on the spot to beam cheerfully at the unseen child, clasping her hands together behind her back and lowering her upper body by a fraction. Then she hopped forwards and curled into the shadows, only a spot of blue and a spot of hazel-gold visible of her form.

The tall boy turned his head slowly, his body following shortly after to gaze at the sky once more with his unseeing eyes. His fingers pressed their tips against the cold, smooth glass of the closed window as he moved closer, as if to reach the sky. With a quiet creek, the windows opened slowly and carefully and a gust of wind blew inside, making the temperature drop and the dying torches vanish into oblivion. A stray thread of silver hair was brushed back as the boy stood, one foot on the window sill, allowing the invisible forces to push against him and blow his hair messy. Then, with a sigh, he hoisted himself up so that he was standing on the window sill, hands in pockets.

"Bye, Yuuki. I wish you luck. Hee…" the playful voice of Kurohane reached Yuuki's ears and he nodded, taking a light jump from the window into the abyss below.

As the Blue Paper Crane steadied itself, a particularly powerful gust blew it upwards towards the sun and it sailed swiftly on the winds, through the sea that was not a sea.

…

_Breathe._

Neku reminded himself to breathe. He took a deep breath, trying to quench those boiling emotions.

_Why? Why come back now? Why come back like this? Why, Joshua? Why be such an annoying moron? Why didn't you show up when I wanted you to? I waited for you every day, you know? Do you know? Of course you know! You're the freaking Composer for God's sake!_

Bombarded by an avalanche of mixed feelings, Neku tried to keep a straight face. Anger, sorrow, resentment, it all came pouring through the net of woven desires. To be able to Joshua again was what Neku had wanted. To know that he was okay and that Shibuya was alright and that he hadn't been overthrown and he was still concerned about them and… and… That was what he'd always wanted. So… why? Why were these negative emotions taking over? Why were these unanswered questions so eager to be hurled at his former partner? He should feel happy that Yoshiya Kiryu had finally shown himself, but he wasn't. He didn't want to see that smug Composer.

_I don't want to see Joshua._

That thought surprised the teen and, for a moment, his breath caught in his throat as his ever weakening resistance against the downpour of negativity turned into a catalyst of his loathing of the boy at the front of the class. He barely noticed a few girls start a quiet and excited chatter about how _handsome_ and _cute _this new transfer student was. How could this prissy boy be anything but bad news? He was bad news. He should… he should just leave them alone and… and never try and mess up their lives again. It was all his fault and Neku was happier without him. Neku felt a dagger of despair cut him as he realized that he still didn't feel with his heart. His mind told him that because he'd changed, he viewed Joshua as a friend, but his heart told him that his feelings of friendship were fake, a bluff made by his mind to trick him into happiness. He didn't know which was real and which was just a spurious fact. The paper felt icy against his leg.

"Now… Kasai-kun, to find you a seat… Why don't you sit…"

Glancing at the unoccupied seat next to him and adjacent to the windows, Neku felt a strike of panic. Hoping with all his heart, Neku made a silent prayer for Joshua to not sit next to him.

"Over there, next to Sakuraba-kun."

Dear lord, why?

"Yes, ma'am," the transfer student replied, taking deliberately slow steps towards Neku, his smirk widening. As the boy approached, Neku stared at his arms, swallowing all his emotions and questions. When did he become so emotionally weak? There was the scraping of a chair against the floor as the new student sat. And, to his surprise, no sarcastic comment was thrown in his direction. Instead, the astonished teen realized, Joshua sat straight in his seat, one hand supporting his chin as he watched the teacher with unwavering concentration.

"Now, Sakuraba-kun, I want you to show Kasai-kun around the school during lunch break."

Oh Holy Angels, no…

"Understood?"

"… Yes ma'am…" Neku replied after hesitating for a moment, wiping his face of the shock. Then came the comment he had been waiting for, just not like he had thought it would come like.

"Hee… Te kudasai*, escort," the smug boy whispered at Neku, eyes boring into his. Neku mentally groaned and gave Josh a glare before looking back at the teacher once more.

…

As the bell rang, signalling the start of lunch break, the first thought that came to Neku was to find Shiki and get as far away from Joshua as possible. He knew he didn't want to stay near the arrogant brat, not even one second longer. He got up and, just when he was about to leave, a hand caught his shoulder. It was, of course, Joshua.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr. Escort?" the little snob asked, giving Neku one of his signature confident smiles and pulling his hand back to twirl his hair, "It's your job to take care of me, or have you forgotten, hmm?"

Neku felt like punching Josh. He forced himself to take a deep breath before trying to answer calmly. However, it didn't come out that way. His voice was a rasping whisper that barely held back rage. "Joshua," he said the name, letting it linger in the air before continuing, "I don't know what you're doing or why you're here, but can't you show yourself the school? You're the damn Composer of Shibuya so you should know your way around a little school like this. Why do you come back now?" A voice in his head told him to calm down, but a louder one goaded him on, telling him to hate, hold a grudge, not forgive. He took a deep breath and was about to continue, but the silver-haired twerp interrupted.

"I don't know about this 'Joshua' you speak of and I'm definitely not a musician either. How can you expect someone who is a first timer in Shibuya to know his way round the school, silly Sakuraba-kun…? Hee…" the boy crooned. Neku opened his mouth to object, but was stopped as the silveret held up a hand for him to stay silent, "En serio. ¿Son todos los japoneses como este?** Hee… Remember, my name is Raitotei Kasai, not Joshua, Sakuraba-kun." A hand reached to the taller boy's forehead and gave him a flick before retreating into the attacker's pockets.

Ouch. Neku wavered. His emotional world shook slightly. That was… Spanish? Joshua didn't speak Spanish, did he? Josh - no, this kid – was he really not who Neku thought he was. The same attitude, the same smirk, the same voice, the same appearance and the same girly giggling. It was Joshua, right? How could someone be so similar? Yet, a thought was telling him it wasn't the kid he hated, the kid whom he had waited for. Deciding to play along and observe the kid, Neku frowned and sighed.

"I-I'm sorry…" he muttered. Apologizing wasn't something Neku did often nor was he used to it, but he decided this was going to be part of the act, "I-I guess I got you confused with another… uh… friend…" he added, pretending to be somewhat embarrassed, "You two look a lot alike…"

"Apology accepted, Sakuraba-kun. Just make sure you give your eyes a good rub so you don't get me mixed up with someone else again… Hee hee…" Raitotei warned, the smirk perpetually on his pretty face, "Now, before we get this tour started, let's have you make up by introducing yourself properly, hmm?"

"…" Neku felt weird and uneasy, having to introduce himself to this kid that either was or looked extremely alike to Yoshiya Kiryu, his killer and friend.

"What's wrong, Sakuraba-kun? Cat got your tongue?"

Neku's frown deepened. "… Neku. Neku Sakuraba."

"Well then, nice to meet you, Neku… I guess I can skip the intros as I've already introduced myself once and I don't like to repeat myself… Hee hee…" Raitotei said, "I'll just call you Neku then, and you can call me Kye," his smirk wavered for a moment, "Hmm? You seem in an awfully bad mood, eh? Hee… Why don't we turn that frown upside-down then, Neku?"

Neku closed his eyes for one moment before sighing and doing his best to clear his frown. "Come on. I'll show you around the school…" His voice came out tired and worn. Then Neku lead the annoying twerp out of the classroom.

…

Lunch was always fun. It was a long break with time to hang out with Shiki and Eri. Neku loved lunch break. But he didn't today. Not with the irritating spoiled brat following him around today. The tour was over, but the pipsqueak continued to follow him.

"Hey! Neku! Over here!" A voice called, making Neku look over. His spirits soared and a smile came to his lips as he saw Shiki and Eri waving at him from inside their classroom. The cold feeling left him. Kye gave Neku an odd look, as if wondering why Neku hadn't yet smiled at him, before his smug smirk returned and he followed Neku towards the girls.

…

The room was silent. No Music reached his ears as the real Yoshiya Kiryu inspected his surroundings. It shouldn't be so silent or dark. Even if this was the seemingly eternally dark A-East Concert Stage, the pitch blackness was quite unnerving, even for one like Joshua himself, as the doors were open and at least some light should be there. He strained to hear the Music of Shibuya as he tried to look for the disturbance that had brought him here, the awful screeching sound of metal against glass that had disturbed him so much, he had come to inspect the place personally. The double-doors slammed closed, throwing him into a void. Someone, or something, had approached him without him realizing it and he could no longer tell if his own eyes were open or closed. Tensing up, the teen, which was Composer of Shibuya, braced himself to be thrown into a fight at any moment. There was no playful smirk on his face or confidence in his eyes, just a glazed field of lavender, cautiously waiting for something to happen.

… _Are you Lonely?_

He twitched, beginning to be able to hear his own heartbeat echo in the silence. The question rang in his mind, surprising himself. Yoshiya Kiryu was actually unnerved.

…

"J-Joshua!?" Shiki's surprised voice wiped the smile off Neku's face as the cold feeling began creeping up on him again.

"So this is the great and mighty Joshua I've been hearing about, huh?" Eri asked, unsure if she should be happy, shocked or hostile.

"Unfortunately, I and this Joshua you speak of are two different people," Kye explained, sighing and shaking his head. Shiki looked at Neku, her eyes unsure and questioning. Neku just nodded once, making Shiki focus once more upon the boy who looked awfully like the Shibuya Composer. "My name is Raitotei Kasai."

"He's also called Kye," Neku added, frowning slightly.

"S-so you're not Joshua?" Shiki asked once more. Eri just gave a confused look.

"No, I am not," Kye confirmed, a note of annoyance edging his voice.

"You look… a lot like Joshua," Shiki then said, still unsure. This made Raitotei smirk once more.

"So I've heard," he said, fiddling with his hair. He looked at Neku. "Sakuraba-kun, why don't you introduce these two lovely girls, hmm?"

Neku positively flinched at what Kye resumed calling him. He wasn't used to hearing this in Joshua's voice. He flashed Kye a suspicious look before sighing and saying, "Kye, this is Shiki and Eri… Shiki, Eri, this is Kye."

"Hee… Oh dear, Neku… I don't think I'm that important of a person to you to be introduced twice to your friends…" Kye teased smugly, holding out a hand for the girls to shake.

"Oh, okay, well, yeah, I'm Shiki," the girl with glasses took Kye's hand uncertainly and gave a small shake before retreating. Her eyes still watched Kye with a troubled look as if she were remembering this expression on the face of Neku's killer as Joshua pulled the trigger. Bad memories. Shiki gave a small shake of the head and wished she were holding Mr. Mew right now.

Eri seemed to get out of her uncertainty faster, maybe because she hadn't met Joshua personally, and shook Kye's hand. "That means I must be Eri!" she said playfully before pulling her hand back. Kye's hand fell to his side, too.

"Well, very nice to meet the pair of you. Now, Neku, why don't we have lunch? I'm positively starving…" Kye's sarcastic, Joshua-like voice purred, making Neku feel more uncomfortable than ever. He kind of wished he had never allowed Josh – Kye, whatever – to meet Shiki and Eri. It felt as if he was exposing them to danger… Which he most likely was…

Suddenly, there was a ringing sound.

"Oops… Excuse me…" Kye muttered, taking out his phone and answering. He walked off to a personless part of the hall, leaving Neku and the others behind. Neku felt as if a stone had been lifted off his heart.

If this person really wasn't Joshua, who was he and why did he look so alike to Josh?

…

"Oh. So you're here, huh, Yuuki? Where? Right outside the school? That means two more until our plan can start… Great. Tee hee…"

* * *

Author's Notes: Finally done with the second chapter! Phew… Guess I'm still in with the one update per day thing! Right, I still am in a bit of a rush though... Still appreciating comments and critique!

* - Japanese for 'I'm counting on you' more literally, 'Please.'

** - Spanish for 'Seriously. Are all Japanese like this?'

Kun is a prefix for a guy's, of whom you are only somewhat familiar with and whom is around the same age as you, name.


	4. Chapter 3: Silent Dusk

_**Nightmares of a Paper Crane**_

**AN: **Since I usually ramble on and on with my Author's Notes, I'll keep this one short and anything else will be put at the end. Last OC, Mitsuru Chiame (was gonna name her Serena, but then realized that the Red Crane really shouldn't be called 'Snow Princess'), finally makes an official appearance, but you'll have to wait until the forth chapter for their plan… Enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Silent Dusk**_

The Red Paper Crane was unmoving as it lay in a pool of red blood that could never be its own, but it struggled, trying to chase after the setting sun, but getting left behind and alone.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

The sun began to rest itself behind the mountains again, tucking itself in for the night and letting the horizon swallow it. The sky became a bed of purple, yellow and pink, red mist seeming to rise around the sun. Inside the room, the torches flickered back to life with ominous purple flames that danced in their holds.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Droplets of water dripped down slowly from the basin and onto the railing of the balcony, the sun's rays dying it a deep crimson. Small hands supported the basin and carefully tipped it to make sure the droplets would hit with a dripping sound.

"… You're lonely, aren't you?" a child's voice whispered into the water, a taunting tone to her voice. "You're lonely, but you don't admit it… Deep inside, you just want friends and the closest you had to that… was your proxy, right?" She gave a tiny laugh. "… Don't lie to yourself… You're _afraid. _Afraid to get hurt and afraid to hurt… " she gave a high-pitched giggled, "You can't hear the Music here... It's_ Silent._" Her voice was innocent, yet fear inducing and terrifying at the same time. Fear itself emitted from the water, flashing scenes of pure terror.

Suddenly, the child winced and dropped the basin. The contents splashed onto the balcony and raced to the edge, pouring down the cliff like a miniature waterfall. She huffed, using fragile hands to pull her red dress up slightly, shying away from the escaping water. Her crystal blue eyes stared longingly at the sunset, but that drawn look soon warped into one of hatred.

"Urg… I hate having to activate my power from a long distance… It's so… _tiresome…_" the child commented, folding her arms. She turned and stalked back into the room, her long, blonde pig-tails caught momentarily by the wind. Her clothes made her look like a doll. A doll of a child from the Victorian eras or something of the sort. The small top-hat-like accessory on the left side of her head was laced with roses and ribbons, a particularly long one fluttering down like a purple, silky ribbon road. A pink veil came from under the blood-colored hat and partially hid half of her face from view. The dress she wore wasn't very puffy, but still a little. It matched the blood red hat and had lace around the edges. It's long, silk sleeves became larger at the ends and many ribbons laced the bottom half of the dress.

"Mitsuru, what were you doing?" the girl folding the paper cranes asked. A few black flowers had been picked as a head accessory for the dark-haired girl and they hung on pearl decorated strings. The strings originated from a purple lace ribbon resting on the right side of the girl's head and they swayed as the girl turned, fixing Mitsuru with her mismatched gaze.

"Playing a game… Of course…" Mitsuru replied, "Still working on your cranes, Kurohane?"

"Hee hee…" was the only reply.

"Well, you carry on doing that then. I'm leaving. Places to go, people to meet and minds to mess with!" the blue-eyed child chirped innocently, sweeping up a black, tattered bunny doll and a pair of scissors into her hands. Then she swept to the opposite side of the room where she could see the moon rising. The silver disk cast its silver gaze into the room. The sky was clear and stars littered it, blinking down at the child. Mitsuru grinned at the moon with hungry eyes before slowly falling forwards, out of the window.

The red crane came under the consoling light of the silver moon and was picked up by the arms of the night, resting peacefully.

…

_Where did he go?_

Neku tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Kye to come back to class. The Joshua-like boy had just vanished during lunch break and wasn't here for the afternoon classes. Neku wasn't exactly worried about him, the teen just wanted to keep an eye on the boy. He still hadn't let go of the suspicions that Kye might be Josh. Putting his forehead onto his arms, Neku groaned mentally. Up at the front, the teacher was talking about a passage from their English textbook. This was boring. Wishing that the bell would ring soon, Neku sighed, trying to think positive. Well… at least Kye wasn't here to bother him.

"Sorry I'm late, sensei*," a voice said as the door was slid open.

"Ah… Kasai-kun. Don't worry, I knew about how you needed to go to the infirmary. Sit down please, so we can continue with class…"

Oh crap. He was back. Neku sighed as he realized he wasn't so lucky. Just when he was going to make a positive reason of that Kye was not here, the boy just has to appear. Neku didn't look up as Kye settled himself into the seat beside him. Neku was expecting a sarcastic comment from the boy until he remembered how Kye wasn't Joshua. He sighed.

_I am missing him… But…_

Neku sighed again. He did miss Joshua, but he just couldn't hold down all the other mixed feelings that boiled up when he thought of the silver-haired twerp. The emotions were harder to hold down than ever. Absentmindedly, he reached for the piece of black paper in his pocket and took it out. He wasn't too sure whether to be confused or shocked when he looked at the piece of paper. It was as if the paper could heal itself. It was a paper crane. Somehow, the paper had folded itself into a paper crane. How… odd… Neku suddenly felt dizzy. The world around him began to sway. He put a hand to his forehead and sat back in his chair.

The dizzy haze made him unable to think. He shut his eyes. When the dizzy spell past, he looked at the crane. It was meant to be a crane, right? Yeah… Now that he thought about it, it did resemble a crane when he found it. Plus, it couldn't have been that battered and managed to survive in his pocket for so long. Something must have went wrong with his memory. It was just a normal, black paper crane, right?

Kye smirked as he watched Neku.

…

Sensing a faint light touching his eyelids, Joshua snapped his eyes open and sat up. All of a sudden, a wave of pain and dizziness swept over him, forcing him to fall back down. Where was he? He felt… weird. Odd. Strange. He could think of many other synonyms, but that wasn't the point. The point was, he had freaked out and lost. The world was spinning. His delicate fingers covered his eyes, helping him calm himself. Delicate. This was the first time he had thought that he, Yoshiya Kiryu, was delicate. Was fragile. Glass-like and easily broken. He smirked and removed his fingers from over his eyes, looking at the white ceiling that stretched overhead. Now to figure out where he was. His senses began to come back to him, recovering from the numb pain.

Joshua could feel a soft but rough surface under him and a blanket covering him. He sat up again, this time more slowly. A wave of nausea hit him head on and he lurched forwards, covering his mouth. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand, getting off the bed he was lying on. Why? Why had he become so weak? So fragile? Then, it struck him and a deranged smile appeared on his face.

He was doing this to himself.

"… Very clever…" he muttered, trying to calm down. He got in now. He wasn't fragile. He was making himself fragile. Being this imaginative had its downsides. His thoughts could influence his own well-being. They made him think he was weak, unfit, fragile and so that's what he had become. But who would be powerful enough to influence his thoughts? No. Not influence. As much as Joshua wanted to deny it, he hadn't been able to fight back. The things they said were spot on and that made him feel fear which slowly turned into powerlessness. He almost laughed at himself.

Now that he'd calmed down, he was back to normal. No more weak feelings in his body. He felt completely normal once more. As his head cleared, he realized he recognized this place. It was Wildcat, Mr. H's café. How did he get here though? The door opened, making the silver haired teen look over.

"Hey, Josh, you're awake! Good, I was getting worried."

The owner of the café had appeared at the door, giving Josh a light smile and holding a cup of coffee in his hands. He walked over, setting the coffee onto the bedside table. Joshua frowned and glanced at the clock. It was almost four o'clock.

"What happened?" Josh demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing, J," Sanae sighed and put on a serious look, his hand moving to the back of his neck, "How come you were passed out at A-East?"

…

The final bell of the day rung and Neku gave a long sigh of relief. After a tiresome day at school, he just couldn't wait to ditch Kye and go hang out with Beat and the others. It was what he needed to get these conflicting emotions sort out. He shouldered his loaded bag and left with Shiki and Eri as he had no clubs today and nor did they.

To his pleasant surprise, Kye did not follow him. Instead, Neku didn't see Kye at all after the final bell. It was as if the boy had just disappeared. Oh well, it was none of his concern. Walking away from school, they met up with Beat and Rhyme in front of their school and the group began discussing where they were going to go. To everyone's surprise, Neku did not suggest Hachiko or Wildcat.

"Le's go get Ramen, yo!" was Beat's suggestion since he was still annoyed at the fact they didn't get ramen yesterday. Shiki and Eri both wanted to go shopping, but Neku said they had already went yesterday, so they took that idea off the list. They didn't really know where to go, so, in the end, they ended up going to Ramen Don on Dogenzaka. As they chatted happily and ate ramen, Neku barely joined in. His mind was wandering. He had ordered Shio ramen because he was thinking and reflecting upon his feelings about Joshua.

Honestly, Neku felt quite empty without his ex-partner, but when he saw Kye this morning, he had so many negative emotions build up in him. He didn't get it. Why would he want Joshua to come back so much if he didn't want to see him? It wasn't right. His feelings were so conflicting. Neku didn't realize his expression was odd until Shiki called him.

"Neku? Are you alright? You look troubled…"

"Huh?" Neku blinked, "Oh yeah… I'm fine…"

"You sure 'bout that, Phones?" Beat asked, frowning at him with unusual concern.

"Yeah, Neku, are you sure you're okay? You seem down…" Rhyme added and Eri nodded.

"Don't worry… I'm fine…" Neku assured them, but Shiki looked more worried and Eri sighed.

His heart began hammering and he glanced outside the window. A young version of Joshua was staring at him, smiling sweetly. Suddenly, the world before him began to spin. He put a hand to his forehead, frowning with pain. A cold feeling began creeping up on him, consuming him. The icy touch came in waves from his pocket. The crane! It was messing with him! But why? Why had he only just noticed. Before he could do much more, the world went black, the last scenes being his friends looking at him, horrified.

* * *

_**AN: **_This Chapter was… bad in my opinion. *sighs* Can't believe it took me so long. No wonder I dislike it. It's always better if I finish it with obvious rush… Ah well, I'll do better in the next one, I assure you all!

Yuuki Ouma – 桜満 由希 (Cherry Full Reason Hope)

Mitsuru Chiame – 血雨 美鶴 (Blood Rain Beautiful Crane) OMG it rhymes!

EDIT: * - Means 'Teacher' in Japanese


	5. Chapter 4: Midnight Orchestra

_**Nightmares of a Paper Crane**_

_**AN: **_Sorry for taking so long to update this! Was outta ideas for a while, so no more April Fools Chapter, sorry! Here comes Chapter 4!

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Midnight Orchestra**_

Soft Music drifted through the air and danced in moonlight. A Piano tune was accompanied by the duet of two violins with the soft whistle of a flute. Pale fingers flew across the black and white keys, soft notes filling the air, a foot on the pedal, tapping in slow motion to the rhythm. The drawn out notes lingered in the air before merging with the now sharp windy whistling and cry of strings on strings. The pale fingers quickened their pace, notes becoming disorientated and no longer in harmony of the normal paced, harsh whistle or slow moan of the violins. A clash of warped Music thundered about the room as the fingers slammed down on the keys, regardless of their fragile look. Turning, the girl playing the piano allowed the silvery pearls that hung from her hair accessory to brush against the chimes hanging near her head, making an out-of-tune ringing. Her eyes were closed, but they slowly opened to gaze at the full moon, a silver disk occupying its own area of the black sky.

The girl did not advert her mismatched gaze as her hands skidded across the surface of the keys, pushing down all of them in two final strings of notes and a loud, low clash of noise that silenced the other instruments and their non-existent players. Blue and a golden hazel scanned the room, having no sign of the playful humour that once lived inside them. The girl stood from her seat behind the black piano that reflected the moon's shine and shut the lid over the keys with finality, a smile gracing her lips. Then, cupping her hands behind her back, she whirled around and stalked away from the piano with long strides. Stopping in front of the moon, she flicked her long, hair back, the blackness of it turning silver as the piano had. The playful smile came back to her and her giggle echoed throughout the lonely room.

"Let this game… begin!" she declared, spreading her arms out, wide, crazed eyes hungrily eating at the moon. She clapped her hands together and the entire room shimmered and disappeared, leaving her alone with the silver disk, now a lone light amidst the silence of midnight. The darkness was consuming, unnerving, but did not affect the girl.

It affected the moon.

The edges of the perfect circle warped and twisted, the entire moon becoming distorted and blurry. The Darkness ate at the edges of the moon, making the lost light close in on itself, consume itself until the girl was alone with the Darkness of the night sky. The Black Paper Crane blossomed with power, its jet black skin peeling off to reveal pure nothingness, a void of darkness that had shape and shade, yet was gifted with nothing else.

Spiralling downwards, it landed on some sort of surface, bobbing up and down, sending silver ripples through the darkness. The ripples wavered and twisted to form the moon. The reflection of the moon.

The perfect reflection of a perfect moon on a perfect, moonless night.

* * *

Neku saw nothing. He heard nothing. Smelled nothing. Felt nothing. And tasted nothing.

His eyes opened, exposing his Soul to the Darkness. His ears strained to catch sound, even the faintest hum of Music would be good, but there was Nothing. Letting out a shaky breath, he could only wonder where he was. There must be surface beneath him, or how would he be lying flat on the ground. But when he got up, he used Nothing as a bolster to help himself up. Nothing was everywhere. He couldn't feel it, but it was there as he stood.

"… Where…?" was the only thing he could muster, squinting in the void. His voice didn't echo, it just left his tongue, never to return.

He moved his arms around him like a blind man, eyes unfocused, yet focused on Nothing. He used his other senses, or, at least, tried to. Once again, his brain recognized Nothingness. He didn't know how long he stood, stretching out his senses, but he began to feel despair. As if he was falling. The Nothing would no longer support him.

Then, like a star finding its way to those its light would guide, Neku smelled something on the wind. The wind? He felt the cool breeze of the wind touch his skin, the whistling of it grace his ears. The salty tang of the sea brushed his tongue. The beating of his heart went back to normal and his eyes focused on blue. The lapping of the waves on the shore woke up his ears and the salt on the wind burned his skin and tongue and nose. Yellow light shone through the darkness, revealing the blue of the sea, the sky. The red sunset expanded before him and he laughed. He laughed like a man driven crazy by the dark, finally able to see light.

After calming down, Neku closely examined his surroundings. In front of him, the surreal paradise of reality, above and behind, the void he had fallen through, and the rest was occupied by a white space. Unfilled, lonely white space consisting of neither the void nor the dream. He turned to the white space, recoiling slightly as he was reminded of the battle between him and Konishi. Then, he saw something that stood out in the white. A mop of silver hair resting on the skinny form of a familiar teenager.

_Joshua!_

The orange-haired boy was shocked as he mind shouted this at him, forcing him to open his eyes up to the reality of Joshua, alone, standing in this white hell. Neku let a smile grace his lips as he put away all his grudges and hatred for the boy and buried it deep, but his face was serious as he began to walk towards the boy. Something told him that this was the real deal. Not Kye, not some fake, but the real Yoshiya Kiryu. The question was, what was Joshua doing here? Neku stretched out his hand to tap Joshua on the shoulder. Then, the warm feeling left. Joshua was gone and the body in front of him collapsed. Neku's eyes widened and his mouth opened in the beginnings of a silent cream before…

"NEKU!"

His eyes snapped open. In front of him floated the face of a strangely familiar person. His vision was blurry. Squinting, Neku raised his hand only to feel it grasped in an iron-tight grip of another pair of hands. He blinked again, trying to focus, but he couldn't. Again and his vision cleared.

There was Shiki, face pale, looking horrified as she stared down at him.

"N-Neku? A-Are you alright?" she stuttered, hope flaring in her eyes.

Neku groaned, trying to move his heavy body. After a while struggling against invisible bonds, Neku's head cleared and his eyes became wide. He sat up suddenly, forehead missing a nasty collision with Shiki's by a fraction. Shiki pulled back slightly, relieved that Neku was up, but still worried. Neku blinked and looked around.

He was inside a white room with some paint splattered on the wall. There wasn't much to see apart from the stack of graffiti supplies in the corner, the drawers beside the bed and the two occupying the red stools next to the bed. Beat and Rhyme watched him carefully, looking relieved as he sat up. Eri leaned against the drawers, seeming concerned. Shiki sat on the bed next to him, waiting for him to speak. His hands sunk into the soft mattress beneath him and he spared the warm, white blanket on him a look before looking at Shiki once more. Those brown eyes behind her glasses gleamed with worry as the silence lengthened.

"… Sh-Shiki…" His voice was hoarse as he stuttered the name of the girl in front of him. Shiki's face lit up at once and she looked ready to burst into happy tears. Eri's look of concern became one of relief and she let out the breath she had been holding unknowingly. Beat jumped up.

"You're alright, Phones!" he boomed, going over, "You still remember me, Phones?"

"D-B-Beat," Neku muttered, nearly saying Beat's actual name out of shock. Beat didn't realize though, he was too absorbed in his jubilation. Rhyme giggled before coming over.

"Beat was really worried, you know? He kept asking if we should call a doctor or not…" she explained, cupping her hands behind her back and beaming brightly.

"BWAAAH! Rhyme!" Beat complained.

"Yeah. Beat's a real softie underneath!" Eri added, approaching as well, a playful smile on her face.

"Bwa! Ah! Not you, too, Eri!"

"Rhyme… Eri…" Neku murmured before giving a smile. His shock was beginning to fade. Then he became serious. "Wh-what happened?" He regretted asking. He saw the looks on his friends' faces change to ones of mixed feelings before Shiki answered.

"You… You fainted at Ramen Don, remember?" she asked, giving a wary smile. Beat didn't look so happy and had fallen silent while Rhyme and Eri exchanged worried glances.

"How long was I out?"

Shiki looked at Eri and Rhyme. It was Rhyme who spoke up. "Neku, you've been out for… For four days already…" she looked sad and Eri continued for her.

"After you passed out, a guy that looked exactly like Kye came over, but he said he was called Yoshiyo or something."

"Joshua," Rhyme supplied.

"Prissy kid brought you back…" Beat added, seeming to be trying to avoid the subject.

_Joshua!_ Neku thought. "Where… where is Joshua now?" he asked, his voice coming out desperate.

Shiki, Eri, Beat and Rhyme looked at each other. Suddenly, the door opened, making them all jump, and Mr. Hanekoma came in. His face lit up as he saw Neku sitting.

"Phones! You're awake! Good, now, you want a cuppa Joe? Everything's half price on your behalf!" the cheerful café barista urged, lightening the mood. Everyone seemed relieved with his intrusion, but Neku noticed their obvious discomfort about Joshua. He was determined to get an answer.

"Hey, Mr. H," he began, giving a tired smile. Then his expression hardened. "So what did happen to Joshua?"

Hanekoma's smile faltered and the others began shifting uncomfortably in their places. In the end, Mr. H decided that Neku deserved to know.

"You see, Phones, after Josh brought you here, he and I both sensed a sudden pause in the Music, a disturbance, you might say. So, doing the natural thing, we went outside to check. And then, this odd melody began playing, overlapping the usual tune of Shibuya. We went back inside after it started raining, but the Music of Shibuya just… disappeared. I asked Josh if something was wrong since he seemed distracted. Then he told me something weird…" A crease appeared in his brow as Mr. H explained and Shiki hugged Mr. Mew closer to her. "He said, 'I feel as if… the sea has come and is calling to me. It's an odd feeling, Sanae, but I can vaguely picture an image as I listen to this lonely melody. Like… Like I'm falling into a dream realm from a void only to be trapped in the boundary of the dream, the void, and a strange emptiness. It's calling out to me. I can't seem to be able to do anything. It's ruining me, Sanae, making me feel useless, you know?' to me." Mr. H sighed and Neku narrowed his eyes, being reminded of his dream, "I've never seen Joshua like that before. It was as if he thought he was powerless to do anything. And the more the tune played, the more hopeless his eyes grew." Sanae shook his head in sorrow for the Composer.

Neku was a little startled to hear about Joshua acting so down. Now that he thought about it, it did seem oddly silent. He swallowed the lump in his throat and hesitated. "So… So where is he now?" the curious boy asked, feeling as if he would regret asking. "What happened afterwards?"

"After a while, we decided to leave you to get some rest and Joshua took this," Sanae held up a Black Paper Crane in his hands and Neku felt an odd urge to grab the object, but stopped himself. Instead, he observed the Paper Crane. It looked nothing like the battered object he had picked up. It was radiating power. Mr. H continued, "From your pocket, inspecting it. I wasn't sure what happened next, but he almost collapsed before striding out as if he were possessed. It was late at night by then and suddenly, there was a flash and… and he disappeared. Poof. His entire existence vanished off the surface of the Earth. All he left was what seemed to be a silent scream of agony. Gone along with the moon." Mr. H looked at Neku, eyes serious as he waited for the boy's reaction to this grievous event.

At first Neku didn't exactly register what he was hearing, seeming confused, but then his eyes grew wide. "Wait! You don't mean that… that…"

"Neku…" Shiki looked at him with Sympathy.

"Prissy boy disappeared. So did the moon," Beat explained, seeming sad and frustrated.

"The moon?! Joshua disappeared with the moon? Who'd be crazy enough to take Joshua? Who'd be crazy enough to erase the moon?! How's that possible…? But Joshua is… He couldn't have…" Neku burst out, surprised. _That _arrogant, spoiled, powerful Composer of Shibuya was _erased_?!

"Not erased, Phones. I know they still exist. They just aren't… locatable. Both the moon and Joshua," Mr. H explained, narrowing his eyes and seeming to be reading Neku's mind. "The Music of Shibuya is also gone. It's _silent_. It's silent apart from the lonely melody that took J." Neku didn't like the way Mr. H had said 'Silent'.

"Silent," Neku repeated. A soft, empty tune was now audible to him. It seemed as if the others could hear it, too. Each note played with a lingering finality as if it were going to be the end, each note played with a sound that made the room more silent despite the Music, each note played with a lasting emptiness that was draining the warmth from the air. This was _silence_. No Noise, no Music, just notes that made it feel more quiet than it already was, more empty and devoid of feeling. Not even a disturbance. Just lonely, yet perfect notes. The melody that Joshua had made in his heart sounded unreal. The space Joshua occupied in his heart hurt. Neku felt empty. Joshua's melody wasn't there.

_Silent, Neku, Silent…_

* * *

Collapsing on the ground, weak arms barely supported his weight as he crouched, trying not to fall. His breath was a rasping rhythm in the still air and his heartbeat a ticking metronome, measuring the tempo of the lonesome tune that hummed with inanimateness.

"Heh… Are… you happy… now?" a barely audible hiss sounded, breaking the emptiness as his lavender gaze fixed itself on the figure standing in the current of the water, her pitch black hair whipped up by a non-existent gale of wind.

"Quite… Hee…" Two precious stones peeked out from the shadows; an amethyst and a glowing piece of gold.

* * *

_**AN: **_Hey… This came out better than I thought! So… What do you all think? I used a lot of imagery and stuff here… Phew… I'm exhausted…


	6. Chapter 5: Friend or Foe?

_**Nightmares of a Paper Crane**_

_**AN: **_Thanks for the review, **Amulet Misty **and my fellow member of the **Guest **family! BTW, the Paper Cranes didn't actually take the moon … But I won't tell you what they really did. And, you're right about the part with Mr. H. I was in a rush. I don't know if should change it or not though… Plus, I might be too laz– I mean, I might not have time to do so. *nervous grin*

Just saying, when I wrote the last chapter, I just came out of this depressed mode I was in for half the day. I was really hyper-ish and just typed my oddly morbid feelings into the computer and ended up with an overly-descriptive chapter, but it was better than I thought.

... EDIT: Sorry for the spoiler in the AN

* * *

_**Chapter 5: Friend or Foe?**_

"You know, you aren't as hard to deal with as they say, Mr. Composer," a teasing voice called out to Joshua from the shadows. He was sitting in the darkness somewhere around Shibuya River. The soft tune screamed into his ears despite being so silent, so quiet, and made it hard to think. He could hear his heart beating, that was how quiet it was, but that didn't stop his ears from hurting. Sighing, the silver-haired boy closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. He had one hand pressed against his temple. Giving an uneasy smile, Joshua quickly morphed it into a smirk.

"And you aren't as stable as they say, Ms. Experiment…" he managed, his voice echoing oddly.

An annoyed and hostile growl was heard and the reflection of the moon appeared in front of Joshua. His eyes widened as he watched ripples spread across the surface of the moon. Kurohane appeared in the center of the moon's reflection, hands cupped behind her back as her cold gaze bore into Joshua. The boy met her gaze with unnerving calmness. A smile touched the girl's lips and she left, taking the moon's reflection, the only source of light, with her.

"You are lucky I am unable to dispose of you as of this moment…"

Joshua leaned forwards, placing his elbows on his legs and resting his chin on his hands. His eyes squinted in the darkness, trying to make out something, anything, that could symbolize he was still alive except for the pounding of his heart. Another girl appeared in front of him, this time with blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked only about six or seven, but her eyes were filled with terrible hatred and frigidness. Her smile was not innocent, nor was it playful. Joshua didn't look at her, keeping his eyes unfocused and gaze averted.

"How does it feel to be felt completely alone?" The girl's voice was childish as she peered at the boy curiously like a child would at a zoo. "Is it _lonely_?" she asked before disappearing. Despite not making any reaction to this, Joshua's panic grew. None of his powers were working. He couldn't do much in this darkness either. He couldn't even feel what he was sitting on. He felt _powerless._

* * *

'_Choose between White and Black and I shall give you what you have chosen.' In one hand lay a Black Paper Crane, not unlike the one Neku had, a manipulating void of darkness, in the other, a white one. It was small. It was innocent. Yet, it was dangerous and radiated a power like nothing he had ever seen before. A pale, fragile hand reached out to the middle of the two cranes before edging towards the white one. 'Congratulations, you have chosen correctly. You are one of us now. We welcome you.'_

* * *

Neku walked on the dark, quiet streets of Shibuya. He didn't have his earphones. Shibuya wasn't meant to be so quiet. It wasn't _right._ The quiet melody that played didn't suit Shibuya at all and the moonless night sky wasn't helping calm his thoughts. Where was the noise? Where were the people? For the first time, Neku wished that there were more people.

The few that were on the streets were quite silent and were moving sluggishly. This reminded Neku of the Red Skull Pins. Those pins had turned everyone's perspective the same. Shibuya had been slow and silent at that time, too. Perhaps the creepy tune had something to do with it…

His mind drifted back to the events of this afternoon.

_A long silence ensured the shocking conversation and Neku didn't know what to say. He was secretly hoping for one of his friends to suddenly say, "Ha! Got you! Happy April Fools, Neku!" or something, but it didn't come. Everyone was looking at him with concerned sorrow, even Beat, who wasn't talking and staying silent for once. Looking into the solemn eyes of CAT, the artist Neku knew and loved, he finally believed that Joshua was gone. But Joshua wasn't completely gone. Mr. H had said he could still feel Joshua's existence, just not locate it. That meant there was still hope for the arrogant prick of a Composer._

_Neku's feelings were conflicting once more. A part of him felt angry at himself and Joshua for not being able to even see the kid before his leaving. Another part of him was grievous that Joshua had been taken. He also felt resentment, a small part of him telling him that this was what Joshua deserved for being an arrogant airhead. The last part of him told himself not to worry, that the always scheming Composer was just playing another game and had his pieces already lain out on the chessboard, waiting for Neku and his friends to do exactly as he expected them to do. That was the smallest part though and the part that wanted to expand the most. It just seemed wrong if it weren't that ways._

_He looked at the Paper Crane, his anger suddenly flaring. Forcing himself to stay calm and composed, Neku removed his gaze and set it on Mr. H once more. "Mr. H?"_

"… _Yes, Phones?" The Producer sounded somewhat tired. Neku didn't know if he was imagining it or not, but Mr. H's voice didn't seem very steady._

"_That… That Black Paper Crane… Do you think it has something to do with what happened to Joshua and… and the moon?"_

_For a second, Mr. H looked startled, but it only lasted for a moment and only Neku had noticed his unease. The others were still shifting uncomfortably as they listened. The graffiti artist sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Neku, that Paper Crane is no ordinary Paper Crane…"_

"_I've guessed that much… It was… it was messing with my mind."_

_Mr. H nodded as if he understood. "I believe it was drawing out your emotions and feeding on their intensity."_

_Neku blinked, surprised. His friends were equally shocked at the amount of power this Paper Crane held. He gazed at the seemingly harmless crane. "It… It can do that?" That would explain his uncontrollable emotions recently. The way he had felt the barrier that held him together weakening from a tide of mixed feelings that swamped him. It explained it all."But… How? Who would have such a power to use this in such a way?" Joshua was one of the possibilities, but that seemed all too impossible now. Neku trusted CAT the same way he trusted his new friends. He didn't think that any of them were lying about Joshua._

_Sanae shook his head, eyes closing. "I can only guess, Phones, but no Angel that I know of can use power, imagination or Music in such a way. Joshua has no interest in Paper Cranes, nor does anyone else I know of. It's as if the creator of the Crane put his or her entire Soul into it. It's like the Crane is the physical manifestation of a being with such power." The man looked as if he was about to say something else, but decided against it. He was hiding something. Neku narrowed his eyes, but questioned no further, deciding to trust the Angel's decisions._

"_So… What are we going to do?" Shiki's voice broke the newly settled silence, making Neku jump slightly. The brown-haired girl looked at Neku and Mr. H uncertainly._

"_Yeah. We jus' gonna sit here? Le's go rescue Prissy!" Beat encouraged, standing up suddenly, determination flaring in his eyes._

"_Beat's right. Sitting here will solve nothing. This friend of yours sounds important. And what's a good friend if they don't help a friend in need?" Eri added, smiling and standing, too._

"_I, too, agree that Beat has a point. We should go rescue Joshua," Shiki stood up also, smiling at Neku._

"_So then, it looks like that's settled. Let's go help a friend in need!" Rhyme chirped, getting out of her seat._

_Neku blinked and looked around at his friends, his expression dissolving into a smile. "You're right. No matter how much of a prick Joshua is, we should still go save him. After all, he is the Composer of Shibuya and, for once, the person who needs saving." Neku got out of the bed and shakily stood up, swaying for a moment before finding his balance. "Let's do our best to help him." He mustered an encouraging smile at the others. Neku was only doing this to find Joshua and save his ass for once, instead of letting the Composer toy with them and being all I-have-everything-planned-out._

_Eri giggled. "Neku, Beat, I never knew you two cared so much about that Joshua kid. You two are real softies underneath!"_

"_BWAA! I never said I cared 'bout him! He- I can't forgive him, kay? I-I'm just… uh… I just feel bad if I couldn't help a friend like Shiki help her friend, Phones, to save his friend, Prissy!" Beat exclaimed, surprised at what he had said before. _

_Neku gave a light-hearted laugh and everyone stared before exchanging cheerful glances, making the mood lift. The lonely melody went away for a while. "I guess things just wouldn't be the same without Joshua. It is kinda lonely without his sarcastic remarks and all… You know? It just doesn't feel right," Neku explained, half-admitting his care for the arrogant boy. Hanekoma smiled, too, admiring this wonderful piece of friendship. Then his expression changed back to the serious one._

"_I'm sorry to interrupt your prattle of friendship, but, may I ask, how will you find Josh? Even I can't seem to locate his presence…"_

_Neku frowned at this. He had never thought about it. A feeling of despair began to swell up in his chest and he warily glanced at the Paper Crane, wondering if it was still affecting him. Then, a chiming of hope burst the despairing bubble._

"_We can start small. Go around, search for clues to their disappearance," Rhyme suggested, her voice like a star in the night sky. Neku's smile returned._

"_Then let's do this."_

Even though this was what they had decided and Hanekoma was helping by giving them player pins, Neku was still half in despair of the search. The pins were for them to move freely between the UG and RG as well as for them to fight with, just in case. However, the lack of Reapers, Players and even Noise was unnerving. The Game must have been paused when the Composer went missing or something. Hanekoma had also said he'd try to locate and help Joshua via the Higher Planes and Higher Ups if he could. The moon's disappearance was a major problem.

Passing Hachiko, Neku stopped to stare at the dog statue, memories filling his head. How he had first met Shiki and Josh, forming pacts with them and how Beat had betrayed the Reapers' to help him. He remembered the moment of awkwardness when Beat didn't know what treading on thin ice meant, the moment he had tried to throw Shiki off his trail, the moment he had immediately deemed Joshua as an annoying know-it-all. He expressed a sad smile before moving on, deciding to check Shibuya River. That was somewhere Joshua was likely to be. By the time he moved on to The West Exist of the Bus Terminal, he found that there were tears in his eyes. He almost laughed at himself for crying.

Tilting his head upwards, he tried to stifle the silent tears, putting a hand over his eyes. However, he felt the warm drop of liquid slide down his cheek and he rubbed it off, annoyed. Why was he crying? He shouldn't be so weak. Stop… Stop. Stop! This was nothing like him! Giving himself a shake, Neku gritted his teeth and wondered when his emotional barriers had become so unstable. This made something else flash into his mind. Something he had shared with Shiki.

_Who needs friends! They just laugh and talk like idiots, and pretend to agree with you... So you end up caring about them... exposing yourself... getting HURT... Screw it! We're better off without them! You want people getting in your way? Dragging you down? I don't. And I never said we were friends. You did!_

Or something like that. Joshua had agreed when he and Neku were discussing this. No. If you did get hurt, hurt because you cared, it showed that you were a human being with feelings. It showed you cared and that you were a real friend. It wasn't a sign of weakness. It was a sign of strength. A sign that you had something to care for, someone who was there for you and that you were someone who could be there for others.

Neku uncovered his eyes as he wondered what Josh truly thought. Mr. H had said Joshua was just lonely, having grown up without many friends. Did Josh really agree with what he had said back then or was it a way of expressing his loneliness? More determined to find Joshua now, Neku walked towards the Shibuya River, into the Station Underpass.

Suddenly, he flinched as he hit something. A wall. He had almost forgotten that these annoying things even existed. The wall was unlike the ones he had seen during the game though. It looked like a flat butterfly wrapped with barbed wire. There were feathers that floated around in the butterfly. Feathers of all different colors. Red, blue, yellow, black and white feathers were littered randomly across the wall, drifting around. It was completely 2D though…

Neku frowned, wondering if he could get through from the RG side. Probably not. Guessing this was a dead end, he decided to not waste any time here and go search elsewhere.

But something stopped him.

As he turned around, a peculiar melody flooded his thoughts and clouded his mind. It reminded him of Joshua, but it was familiar and oddly alien at the same time, Joshua but not quite Joshua. Then he realized that in front of him stood a teenager with ash-blonde hair. His eyes widened in shock.

"J-Joshua?"

The teen turned, his eyes closed. Then his eyes opened and Neku realized that this was not Joshua. He was looking into a pair of dull, grey eyes. He was looking at a face that lacked the Composer's playfulness and arrogance. He was looking at someone he had recently met and suddenly recognized.

"Kye? Wh-what happened to your eyes?"

The teen grinned. "Hey… It looks like this damned curse is wearing off… S'up, Neku? You feeling alright? You're awfully pale… I've been worried, you haven't come to school recently, Mr. Escort." His voice was no longer Joshua's. It was lower and different. Just different. The melody that had flooded Neku's head began changing, too. "I wonder if it's because He's losing power or if it's just because I'm gaining power… Hmm…" His hair grew longer and more curled. Neku was frozen in shock. "Did you like the present Kurohane gave you? It was originally meant for Mr. Yoshiya Kiryu, but… I guess she thought that you'd have to do…" The changes stopped and Kye sighed. "Is this still not enough? When will I be able to break this damned curse?" He sighed once more, "Well, see you round and thanks for all that power you fed to Kuro*. It was a great help, man."

The boy walked towards Neku, making him flinch. However, Kye didn't even touch him. The long-haired kid just walked past Neku, humming a soft tune. Neku whirled around in time to see the boy vanish past the wall, strides casual. The yellow feathers seemed to dance with more enthusiasm, like dogs that'd sensed their master coming home.

The tune left Neku alone in the silence.

* * *

_**AN: **_So… Kye just revealed a bunch of info to Neku and he's becoming 'normal' again. *urg, spoiler* Kye had changed into Joshua's appearance, he originally had stormy grey eyes, but his curse, which you shall learn more of soon, prevents him from becoming himself again *sorry AM, spoiler*. The next chapter shall reveal more info on this 'Ms. Experiment' stuff. So… whaddaya think? I'll try to go over my fanfics sometime soon and do some editing and improving.

* - Kuro is 'black' in Japanese and also Kurohane's nickname.


	7. Chapter 6: White Blue Night

_**Nightmares of a Paper Crane**_

_**AN: **_Sorry for lack of updating! I want to know though… How many here support pairings? I would like all readers who care to vote:  
Neku x Shiki  
Neku x Joshua  
None, only friendship stuff…  
I'll wait a few days ('cause that's how long it takes to update…) and perhaps until Chapter Eight or Nine before deciding…

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Edited for mistakes!

* * *

_**Chapter 6: White Blue Night**_

The Shibuya River, a torrent of colorless water, rushed past its banks in an excited, hurried way. Standing upon its artificial shore, Kurohane stared into its depths, her dress motionless despite the soft breeze that grazed the area. In her right hand sat a carne, a small, white, semi-transparent paper crane and fresh tears ran down her cheeks. She was not sobbing or wailing, but crying silently, her eyes sad but the muscles in her face relaxed, as if in a trance. Her lips parted slightly and a soft sound came out.

"Shiro…"

Bending down, the girl crouched at the water's edge for a moment before sitting on the cold floor. Something was inside the water, something that she had been lonely without. Setting the crane into the river, Kurohane was reluctant to let the last of this something go, but she had to if she wanted this something to come back completely. The crane was swallowed by the waves the moment Kurohane let go and she bit back a sob. She closed her eyes, seeming to be thinking about something.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded behind her and she opened her eyes. Kurohane didn't need to look to tell who it was.

"Raitotei… I see that the curse is breaking… You're looking more and more alike to yourself…"

Kye sighed with disappointment, folding his arms. "Perhaps… But, it didn't wear off as much as I thought it would today…" the boy commented. His stormy grey eyes were fixed on the place the crane had sunk. "Do you think that it will be possible to rescue Shiro?"

The dark-haired girl gave a small laugh and slowly got off of the ground. "Of course… But first, I want to destroy Shibuya. I'll destroy it completely. That, as you know, is the best way to get revenge, is it not?" She moved her hand up to completely stop the thinning flow of tears and sighed.

* * *

For a moment, Neku didn't know what to do. What had just happened? Kurohane? He knew that name… Where had he seen it…? That's right! The black crane. When he had read the message written on it, he had seen that name. The message had been signed by Kurohane. So this Kurohane was the mastermind behind this and she or he had been the one feeding off his emotions. The crane was originally meant for Joshua but Kye had said Kurohane thought that Neku would do. He had always been suspicious about Kye and the only reason he had to be shocked was the fact that Kye looked so much like Joshua and acted so much like the brat that they could have been the same person. But they weren't and Kye apparently didn't look like Joshua, at least, not _that_ much. He should tell Mr. H about this and the butterfly wall.

Neku took out his cell phone. He was halfway through dialling Mr. H's number when he realized he had no signal. How odd. Perhaps it was because he was in the Station Underpass. Frowning with annoyance, the teen walked out of the Station Underpass, his thoughts lingering on Kye and his change of appearance as well as the Composer and where the twerp had disappeared to. That wall was very suspicious indeed and Mr. H had told them to call if they found something.

After walking into the open air, it surprised Neku to see that he still had no signal. Casting a worried glance at the sky, Neku began to wonder what was wrong. It wasn't right, his phone had been working at the café, and there had been a signal there. A cold breeze chilled the area and Neku couldn't help but shiver, glancing up at the dark night sky.

No one had thought of sleeping. They were restless with worry and the lack of moonlight wasn't helping. Neku especially was unusually impatient and itching to move. It was odd, but this Joshua-hunt had made his wanting for sleep to vanish entirely. The melancholy melody that hummed quietly had its part in Neku's sleeplessness, too. It was simply too unnerving and made Neku edgy.

Oddly, there were stars in the sky. Not many, but a few twinkled at him through the gaps in the clouds drifted through the sky. It was a beautiful sight, for it was a rare treasure to see in metropolis skies these days. But their wise shine unnerved Neku more. As much as he first felt comforted and reassured by their appearance, it was too illogical for stars to be appearing at a time now.

And he was right to be unnerved.

After a moment, Neku began to realize with shock and fascination that the stars… they were multiplying. More and more winked into existence, lighting up the sky with their devious sparkling. Slowly, but surely, these stars were trying to take over the sky. Neku was sure of it. It wasn't noticeable until one looked closely and carefully and, due to his observation skills, Neku had been able to witness this stunning conquest.

Absorbed in the watching, Neku did not notice the figure that approached him until a 'humph' came from the figure. Startled, Neku snapped back to Earth and glared at the figure warily, in a defensive pose. The figure wore a long, sleeveless, pale blue coat. His hood was low over his face so Neku couldn't see his face. Was… this person not affected by the tune? Was he with Kye and 'Kurohane'? Neku narrowed his eyes, suspicion swelling up in him. The figure seemed to be studying him although Neku could not see the figure's eyes.

"… Are you Neku Sakuraba?" A fragile, glass-like voice came from under the hood, allowing Neku to identify the figure as a 'he'.

"… Who are you?" Neku demanded after a small hesitation, his suspicion growing.

The other man merely sighed in reply. A sudden gust of chilly wind raked the area, forcing a another shiver from Neku. The man stood tall in a relaxed pose, letting the wind blow the egdes of his coat back. His hood was battered and beat by the wind until it finally gave up, falling back to reveal the man's face. His milky, white hair flew out behind him after losing its cover and his glassy eyes were unblinking as they stared at Neku without focusing on him. Neku flinched at his blind gaze and couldn't help but feel creeped. Suddenly, the man moved his hand from his side, sweeping his palm in one swift motion in front of him.

Something cut Neku. He stumbled backwards, a cold feeling that wasn't quite pain shooting up his arm. His left hand went to the wound near his right shoulder. His right arm was going numb. Warm, sticky liquid covered his left hand, seeping through his fingers and making crimson splotches on the ground, red against grey. His eyes widened in shock and he gave a pain-filled gasp, trying to regain balance. Pain shot up both his right leg and arm as soon as he felt the cold feeling leave him. A new wave of agony overtook him and he nearly fell, couching on knee. Gritting his teeth, he narrowed his eyes, glaring at the glass-eyed man in front of him.

"My name is Yuuki. Yuuki Ouma. A pleasure to make your acquaintance…" Yuuki spoke, lifting a hand up and flicking a finger at the boy. He had attacked again before Neku had registered what he was doing. A sharp pain pierced Neku's cheek and it began to sting. Yuuki seemed amused at Neku's lack of retaliation and gave Neku several other small cuts, making Neku growl in pain. "… Hmm… You are not as powerful as they say…" The man began again. However, he didn't finish what he was about to say. He flinched and jumped back as flames rose up where he was a second ago. Then, several dark spheres appeared near him, one catching him on the arm before bouncing off, grazing his skin. His dexterity allowed him to escape further harm though.

Neku grinned as he stood up, clutching Dark Saturn in his hand. The boy had managed to get his hands on the pin without Yuuki realizing. Then Neku's expression darkened. "As who says?" The boy questioned, meeting Yuuki's sightless gaze without flinching this time. Some sort of message passed between them and neither made another move to attack or test the other.

"I think you know. Kye opened his big mouth and went blabbering off to you, did he not?"

_Kurohane?_ Neku thought to himself, narrowing his eyes further so that he was almost squinting. A moment of silence followed this and Neku warily watched the other man in case Yuuki showed any hostility. Then, the man giggled, startling Neku.

"It's quite amazing…" he commented. Neku was puzzled.

"What?"

"Your Music. It's very influential…. No wonder the Composer chose you as his proxy… I can understand Kurohane's decisions now… She chose correctly… Shiro will be pleased. I guess that's just Kuro… Her estimations are rarely incorrect…"

"What are you talking about?!" Neku demanded, getting increasingly vexed as he was reminded of what Joshua most likely saw him as. A pawn, no more.

"You'll soon see… Heheh… You'll see, Neku… I do thank the Lord for your existence… If you didn't exist… I don't know what we'd do… I should also thank your friend in heaven. His sacrifice contributed to your growth, after all…"

"SHUT UP!" Neku suddenly shouted. He flinched at his own reaction. Even after all these years, his mind still lingered on that one event. That one event had changed his life. He closed his eyes. He couldn't forgive himself for what had happened. How did this man know? Grief crashed into him, sweeping him off his feet. The pain flared and Neku could no longer stand, so he let himself collapse, using his arms to stop him from face planting into the pavement. His eyes were squeezed shut.

"Heheh… There's no need to be surprised at your own reaction. You _did _kill him after all, didn't you?" Yuuki began approaching Neku, who had cupped his hands over his ears. His entire world was shaking. He had blamed himself, but hearing this coming from such a stranger, he couldn't take it. He remembered his shock, his worry, the times they had shared and the pain that had crushed him. Fighting back tears, he glared up at Yuuki, unsurprised that the man had come closer and was smiling calmly at him.

"How… How do you know…?" he choked out, finally finding his voice.

"Because I know, Neku. Because I know. I'm blind, but I see all, Neku. I know all… I would take you to Kurohane now, but you are incomplete… Incomplete. A part of you is missing. A part of your world is still young, not fully matured…" The man bent down so that he was eye-level with Neku. "We'll wait though. And your Dear Composer can wait, too… I wish that you grow fast, grow well… New games will start and old games will end. We shall meet again and I hope, by then, you will have grown… Powerless as you may be now, it won't be long before you find that missing piece of the puzzle. What you lack made you weak. That Composer, he's quite heartless, isn't he, leaving you all alone… When you care so much about him…" Neku was frozen in place. Literally frozen. No matter how he tried to move, he couldn't. Something was forcing him down. Not his emotions, something that wasn't a part of him was forcing him down. "Well then, until we meet again…"

Yuuki stood up with deliberate slowness. Then he swept past Neku, leaving him feeling more unstable and hurt.

* * *

Kneeling on the cold pavement, it was a while before Neku felt ready to stand once more. The pressure that had kept him down had faded, but his mind and thoughts had kept him down longer. His pain had gone, but was replaced with an odd numbness and tingling feeling. Slowly, he pushed himself off the ground, trying his best to get up. His arms shook and blood ran down his right arm and leg.

Eventually, Neku managed to get into a standing position. He stumbled and leaned against a nearby wall for support. He looked down at his body. He was covered in blood. Ow… The pain was coming back. He'd die of blood loss at this rate. He took out a cure drink pin and tried it, focusing on the pin. It worked and he felt his injuries being patched up. Blood was pumping, clotting and slowly retreating back into his wounds.

Honestly, Neku didn't know how he felt at the moment. The mash of emotions that had overwhelmed him were still fighting, but Neku could barely feel any emotion. He couldn't make out one from the other. Slowly, he began to regret, to grieve. It climbed to the top of the castle and sneered at all his other emotions.

He cried.

* * *

_**AN: **_Phew… Done! Thanks to all readers and reviewers! So sorry to have kept you all waiting! It was a liiittle rushed...


	8. Chapter 7: Last Angel

_**Nightmares of a Paper Crane**_

_**AN: **_The last OC appears in this Chapter! … In a flashback.

EDIT: Edited for mistake! Thanks to **Amulet Misty **for pointing it out!

* * *

_**Chapter 7: Last Angel**_

_The people were slow, their movements sluggish, their minds distracted as they trudged through the streets. A light drizzle fell over their heads, rain droplets joining the pool of water on the cement pavement. Umbrellas of all sorts of colors and sizes filled the streets looking like a field of flowers from above. The sounds of car horns beeping and muted chatters echoed off the walls. Squeals of excitement and the flashing of traffic lights complimented each other. The crowd ignored the few that looked in a hurry, sometimes making way for them to dash through. Some just stood and watched the crowd, phone in hand, or maybe having their attention on something more interesting and alive._

"_Hey! Kuro-chan!" Just as usual, the crowd ignored this excited call. They had heard so many similar ones already and this was the same as the others. It was a call for someone's attention, but not theirs, so they ignored it. However, one person stopped to look. She turned, her long black hair swishing, to look at the one who had called for her attention. A few of the crowd stared, they had just seen something not-normal, but they lost interest quickly. A boy ran up to the statue of Hachiko, which stood unfazed by the rain, and next to the girl who smiled and moved so that her black umbrella would cover the both of them._

"_Did you forget your umbrella again, Shiro?" she questioned, looking at the boy as he bent down to catch his breath. The boy inhaled deeply before stretching back up with a cheeky smile and shaking his white__ hair to get the water droplets off. "Hey, cut it out!" The girl scolded playfully, shielding her face from a good splashing. Her blue eyes danced with joy at the sight of her younger friend and he grinned at her, hazel-gold eyes shining, his hair making his dark tan skin seem even darker and his face even more childish than he already looked. "Heh. Cheeky ochibi!"_

"_Oi! I'm not that short! Right, Aoi?" The boy looked mildly offended and mock pouted before consulting another boy nearby._

"_Ah," the older boy merely replied, holding back a chuckle. His long, pale hair had a blue hue to it and his bright green-blue eyes were fixed on the mock pout of the younger boy. The younger boy frowned and punched Aoi on the shoulder, or, at least, he tried to, but failed due to their height difference and felt more comfortable punching the lower part of his arms which were folded._

"_Dude, I know you're trying not to laugh!"_

"_Ah…" A small chuckle escaped Aoi's lips and he ruffled Shiro's hair._

"_Hey! Quit it! I'm not a little kid anymore!" Shiro wormed out of the way and hid behind Kuro, bristling like a cat at the gesture of affection. Kuro gave an amused laugh before looking around and then at her watch. She huffed._

"_Where are the other three? They should be here by now. It's already 4:37 and we were meant to meet here by 4:25…" Kuro complained, frowning ever so slightly._

"_No need to be that punctual about time, Kuro," a voice behind them spoke, "Hee… What's the fun if you're so strict?" A teenage boy holding a bright yellow umbrella walked over to join them. His lavender eyes looking each of them over as his free hand fiddled with his silver locks._

"_Kiiro, off with the disguise…" Kuro ordered, sighing. Kiiro rolled his eyes._

"_You're no fun at all, man…" His voice had become deeper as he took off his wig, revealing his short golden hair that framed his young face. Grey stormy eyes stared into blue as his contact lenses were taken off swiftly by his dexterous fingers. "How'd 'ja know it 'twas me?"_

"_Your Spanish accent lingers even when you speak Japanese, Kiiro," another girl's voice came from behind Kiiro._

"_Aka!" Shiro exclaimed, running up to the long-haired blonde that had spoken, his face lighting up at her arrival. Aka's hair was completely let down today, her blonde locks that had a tinge of red in them reaching just past her waist. Her eyes were almost purple in color, a perfect mix of blue and red._

"_S'up, Shiro? Are we still waiting for one more?" Aka asked. Shiro nodded._

"_Yeesh… He isn't usually this late," Kiiro added, frowning in concern, "Les' ditch 'im!"_

"_Nah-uh," Kuro rejected the offer, "That ain't nice, Kiiro. Be patient, he'll arrive here shortly… Right, Aoi?"_

"_Ah…" came the simple reply._

"_I wonder what's taking him…" Shiro muttered, folding his arms and the group fell into silence. It was a while before the silence was broken._

"_Sorry I'm late." A voice interrupted their thoughts and the group turned to face the newcomer._

"_Yeesh, what took ya?" Kiiro asked at once, frowning._

"_Tick-tock, it's 4:40 already…" Kuro added._

"_Ah, you're late," Aoi agreed, speaking in a complete sentence this time._

"_Kuro, you're too strict, but you, tardy guy, should be faster next time," Aka scolded._

_Shiro seemed to be the only one who wasn't bothered by the tardiness of the new arrival. "Yay! You're here!" he merely cheered, beaming._

"_I stopped at Ramen Don for some Shio Ramen. Hee… who knew I'd be so late?" The voice was playful with a hint of mock surprise._

"_Well then, if we're done talking, let's go already," Kuro took the lead once more, turning to walk away, "Come on." _

"_Yeah! Come on!" Shiro followed and the others tagged along, smiling at each other._

_If only time could have stopped then. If it had, we wouldn't be in such a mess. Everything went wrong and there's no turning back now. Do you regret it? Do you regret what you have done? Do you regret destroying such a wonderful friendship? I regret it. But I don't think you do. You've failed us all._

_You should regret, but you don't… You don't, do you?_

* * *

Looking up at the dark sky, Neku was puzzled why no lights were on. A thin sheet of snow had begun to blanket the earth; the unusual weather was very odd. Unnerving as always. The electricity had fizzled out for some reason, throwing Shibuya into an uneasy darkness. The people weren't moving much, those who were moving were moving in slow motion as if time had slowed. The streets were absent of the beeping of car horns and flashing of street lights. The usual chattering was not home. The silence that had befallen Shibuya wasn't normal. Then again, nothing had been normal these days. No moon, no signal, no electricity.

Neku shook his head as he made his way back to Wildcat, trying to clear his thoughts. Honestly, he wanted to get there fast, but he couldn't seem to go much faster than a walk. He hadn't been into a fight for so long, it had him exhausted. Cat Street came into view and so did his friends. Beat, Rhyme, Shiki and Eri were standing outside of Wildcat, faces solemn. Narrowing his eyes, Neku walked over.

"Did any of you find anything?" he asked. They all looked up, seeming relieved that he was back, but shook their heads, giving different greetings in response. "Where's Mr. H?" They looked towards the café. Inside, Hanekoma seemed to be on the phone, trying to contact someone, but he gave up, putting the phone down and sighing before coming outside.

"Phones! You're back!" he exclaimed, a small smile spreading over his face. "Ah, I thought you were taken, too!" His hand went to that back of his neck subconsciously. "Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, I did…" Neku frowned for a moment before telling the others what he had found, leaving out what Yuuki had said though. Even though he tried to put it out of his mind, it still bothered him greatly. As soon as he was finished, they started fussing over him.

"Neku, you aren't hurt, right?" Shiki was the first to speak, looking concerned.

"Yeah, Neku, are you alright?" Rhyme chimed in, sounding worried. Eri nodded her concern and Neku shrugged it all off.

"Don't worry. There's not a scratch on me," he lied swiftly, not wanting to make his friends fret over him anymore. Yuuki had left a good number of cuts over his body, but most were healed or were too small to see. He had also taken time to clean off the blood.

"You sure 'bout that, Phones?" even Beat sounded worried.

Neku merely nodded in reply. The orange haired teen then looked over at the café barista, somewhat surprised to see a pained look on his face. His eyes widened slightly. "Um… Mr. H? Are you alright?"

The man blinked back to reality and stared at Neku as if the boy had told him something ridiculous. An uneasy smile broke over his face. "Yeah, don't worry about me, Phones…"

"…" Neku trusted the man, though he knew that the café owner was hiding something. As much as he trusted the café owner's decisions, he felt as if he deserved to know whatever Mr. H was hiding, especially at a crucial time like this. It had to have something to do with Kurohane and Yuuki. "Mr. H… Are you hiding something?" The question came out more candid than it was meant to be and Neku flinched at his own tone. Mr. H and the others seemed surprised at first and Neku was just about to apologize when the older man started laughing. Startled, Neku and the others exchanged surprised glances.

"Ha… Sorry, Phones," Mr. H apologized, grinning. Some of the light-hearted atmosphere seemed to have returned at that moment. "Never knew you could be so candid… I have my suspicions about the group you told us about, but I highly doubt it would be who I think…"

Neku nodded in understanding. From Mr. H's expression, he knew they were treading into a danger zone. Better leave it unquestioned, it seemed rather personal anyways. Plus, Mr. H would give them this info if they needed it. Neku trusted him like that. Then he suddenly remembered something. "Did you get any interesting info, Mr. H?"

Mr. H's face darkened immediately. "… We lost contact…"

Neku frowned in confusion and looked to his friends, seeing the same bewilderment reflecting from his friends' faces. Mr. H continued.

"Shibuya has been cut off to the outside world. No reception, the place is surrounded by walls. Hell, I can't even contact the higher ups!"

A silence fell.

* * *

_**AN: **_ARG! I'm not in it today… Yeesh… I dislike this chapter, really and it's shorter than usual… I've been having writer's block and low muse on everything recently… I had to rewrite this thrice, ya know! The first turned out too gory, the second turned out too cheesy. A little bit of uncharacteristic swearing from Mr. H, but I needed to get it outta my system... Feeling unusually irate recently.

'Ochibi' means midget

Thanks to all that read and/or reviewed!


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